Cibarium

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The cibarium (from Latin cibarius : useful for eating) describes the vestibule of insects, the section directly in front of the actual mouth opening. The section behind the head inside the head is called the pharynx (or throat). The cibarium is usually bounded below by the hypopharynx and above by the so-called epipharynx, which is the soft, membranous inside of the labrum and clypeus . The lateral boundaries are very different and depend on the construction and function of the respective mouthparts . The cibarium is thus limited by weakly sclerotized, soft-skinned structures. However, a different number of small sclerites can be embedded in this. As a synonym for Cibarium, the term sitophor is sometimes used, but some researchers make a distinction between the two (as different sections), e.g. B. in the hymenoptera .

In order to convey the food that has been chopped up by the mouthparts to the mouth opening, the cibarium can usually be expanded in order to suck in the pulp. For this purpose, a usually powerful muscle is developed that runs from the postclypeus to the cibial palate and thus expands the space. The antagonistic muscle that narrows it again attaches to the tentorium . In insects with sucking mouthparts, the cibarium is regularly transformed into a suction pump, the cibarial pump, driven by powerful muscles. This is always in front of the anatomical mouth opening, but apparently deep inside the head, as the structures in front of it have come together so tightly that a second, outer mouth opening is formed. The pharynx can also be transformed into a suction pump. Some insects, e.g. B. mosquitoes even have both pumps side by side.

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  • Willy Georg Kükenthal (Gre.): Handbook of Zoology. A natural history of the tribes of the animal kingdom. Volume 4: Herbert Weidner: Morphology, Anatomy, Histology. (Delivery 27). de Gruyter, Berlin 1982, ISBN 3-11-007782-5 .
  • Bo Heum Kim, Hae Koo Kim, Sang Joon Lee: Experimental analysis of the blood-sucking mechanism of female mosquitoes. In: Journal of Experimental Biology. 214, 2011, pp. 1163-1169.